CL: Chapter 23 – Take Responsibility

My eyes were still closed but I’m already half awake. I felt a little cold so I snuggled myself into the warm quilt and big pillow beside me. I hugged tight onto it and rested my right leg on top. I rubbed my hand on the pillow and dug my face on it. God it was warm and comfy.

“This is one hard and firm pillow,” I said to myself.

With my eyes still closed, I’ve let my hand slide down to feel this firm pillow. I came across something peculiar. It was a bulge that was soft and somewhat squishy. I became curious so I continued to squish it. To my surprise, it became hard and it even twitched!

“Cut it out,” someone groaned.

I opened my eyes and saw that it was Ryū that I was hugging and it was his chinchin[1] that I was stroking.

([1] Chinchin [ちんちん] – means penis)

I immediately removed my hand from his crotch and sat up straight. It was like deja vu! This sudden change in position caused my stomach to churn. I wanted to puke. My head was aching so that I wanted to sob. I looked around and realized we were not in my room.

“Where are we?” I asked as I rub my eyes with my hands. I yawned because I was still sleepy.

“Stupid. You did not get amnesia. You were just drunk,” he said with a flat tone as he sat up beside me.

When he said that, I suddenly had some vague flashbacks. I then woke up from my temporary daze and realized what had happened.

“No way! What did you do to me?” I panicked.

“You must be kidding me. You started it,” he said. “I just obeyed your commands.”

I held on my forehead because it was really aching. More flashbacks played in my mind. I don’t know what to say. I could tell that my face became red all over because it was really warming up. I was so embarrassed that I bowed down my head, afraid to meet his gaze.

“I… Ano…,” I was stuttering and fidgeting.

To my surprise, I realized I was only wearing my underwear! I felt like I was taken advantage of.

“Why am I naked? What did you do to me?!?” I sobbed.

He furrowed his brows and gave me an indifferent look. “Don’t act like the victim,” he said. “I’m the victim here. You were such a seducer,” he then raised one of his brows.

“What? Me?” I was so shocked. I hurriedly wrapped my body with the quilt and covered, most especially, my chest.

“Heh, so shameless. I already saw your body. You don’t even have boobs so why cover your chest?” He mumbled as he rolled his eyes and crossed his arms on his chest.

“You’ve taken advantage of me when I was not myself. You need to take responsibility! What if I became pregnant? My mom will kill me!” I panicked some more.

“Don’t be delusional. You’re a boy. How would you get impregnated? I did not take advantage of you; rather, you took advantage of me. You should be the one who should take responsibility here,” he looked really irritated this time.

I did not refute. I know I will lose if it’s a word battle with this guy. I just focused on my confusion and the fact that I was not feeling too well.

I wanted to dig a deep hole, crawl into it, curl up, and just die. I was really embarrassed. Everything that happened started to make sense. It was so clear that I wanted to punch my own face because of the crazy things I said and did.

He gave out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes one last time. He was mumbling something unintelligible.

“Look,” he said. He gently cupped my cheeks with his two big hands. He looked at me, straight in the eyes, overflowing with reassurance. “Calm down. We didn’t go as far as what you are thinking. I know you’re not yet ready for that and it’s clear to me that you haven’t fully accepted me,” he softly said.

I blushed and started to calm down. He’s really good when it comes to taming my unstable emotions.

“I didn’t know that you speak Kyoto-ben,” he chuckled.

“Oh~~ that. Ano… Well my hometown is really here in Ohara. I just grew up in Shinjuku,” I explained. “Ryū, my head really hurts,” I grimaced.

He draped his arm around my shoulders and kissed my head.

“Get dressed. I’ll look for something you can take for your hangover,” he said.

I nodded in response and sincerely smiled at him.

He got up from the bed and when he was about to leave, somebody came into the room.

“Hey guys! There you are. We were looking all over for you! It’s like almost 4 hours since you both disappeared. We waited for you outside but both of you did not come back. I even went to the bathroom and found that it was empty,” Ken said.

“Oh, uhm… we fell asleep here,” I blurted.

It seems that he didn’t buy what I said. He looked at me up and down. “Oh, so you got naked and fell asleep? He he.” He grinned and gave us a sidelong look.

“Shut up Ken,” Ryū said as he walked towards the door. He grabbed onto Ken’s shirt and pulled him, aiming to leave the room. “Come with me. We need to buy something,” he commanded.

“Hey, I’m not a dog, man,” Ken pulled away from Ryū’s grip and started fixing his shirt. He followed Ryū leaving me alone in the room.

I got dressed. I sat on the edge of the bed as I massaged my temples. I looked for my cell phone and texted Ki-kun. I asked where he was.

After a minute or two, he replied and said he was downstairs in the living room.

I stood up from the bed and attempted to leave the room. I felt that my muscles were aching. I didn’t know if it was because of the sake or because of the—I don’t even want to think about it.

Anyway, I left the room, almost dragging myself. God! I won’t drink ever again. So this is how it feels when you have a hangover.

I went downstairs. I saw Ki-kun sitting in one of the sofas. He looked at me and smiled. His smile immediately turned into a frown when he saw me.

“What happened to you, Aniki?” He asked.

“Uhm, I was so drunk that I fell asleep. Ryū carried me to one of the rooms and we both fell asleep,” I obviously lied through my teeth.

“Are you sure it’s only sleeping that you did?” He looked discontented about my explanation.

“Yes,” I forced a smile.

I plopped on the sofa beside him. We just continued chatting. After almost half an hour, the two senpais came back.

My heart was thumping like hail on a windshield. I was so caught off guard. I didn’t realize that they would come back sooner. I was sitting so close to Ki-kun. I was afraid that Ryū would go on one of his possessive streaks again.

He looked at me and walked over to where I was seated. He was carrying a paper bag. He sat on the center table directly in front of me.

I slowly moved further from Ki-kun, hoping Ryū won’t react again. Ki-kun might have understood the situation so he excused himself.

“Uhm, Aniki, I will just help Ken-senpai clean up our mess,” he said. “Right?” He then looked at Ken.

“Oh, ah, yeah we need to wrap up for today, he he. We’ll leave you two love birds alone for now,” Ken grinned.

Both of them left the living room and headed for the front porch to clean up.

Ryū then pulled out the stuff he bought from the paper bag. “Here,” he said as he offered me a bottle of Pocari Sweat[2]. He also had a bowl of ramen and some kakis[3].

([2] Pocari Sweat [ポカリスエット Pokari Suetto] is a Japanese sports drink, manufactured by Otsuka Pharmaceutical It was launched in 1980. It is a mild-tasting, relatively light, non-carbonated sweet beverage and is advertised as an “ion supply drink”. It has a mild grapefruit flavor with little aftertaste.)

([3] Kaki [柿] is the Japanese term for Persimmons.)

I took a few gulps of the Pocari Sweat. I took the chopsticks and started to sit Indian-style on the floor while facing the center table. I placed the bowl of ramen in front of me to prepare to eat.

Ryū then took the bowl away from me and also the chopsticks.

“Hey!” I pouted. “Why’d you do that for?”

“Let me help you. Sit properly on the sofa,” he ordered.

“Okay,” I said as I got up from the floor and sat on the sofa.

He held on the bowl and pulled a small amount of noodles using the chopsticks. “Ahh,” he said while offering me the noodles.

I felt awkward but I still opened my mouth. I ate the noodle he offered me and gave him a smile.

I then realized something. “Hey, I’m not disabled. I can feed myself,” I said.

“Yeah, you were good at feeding yourself. You ate me heartily,” he chuckled and winked at me.

I blushed as I recalled what happened earlier.

“Can we not talk about what happened earlier?” I shyly said.

“Why not? It’s just only us,” he rebutted.

“Well, I just feel awkward.”

“Okay, just let me pamper you. Here, eat some more,” he smiled as he gave me another batch of noodles he picked up using the chopsticks.

I finished eating the ramen and the kakis he bought me. I was so thankful to him and Ken for buying these foods for me. “Gochisōsama[4]!” I said after eating heartily.

([4] Gochisōsama [ごちそうさま] is a word used after one has been treated. It is especially used after a meal.)

I was feeling much better now thanks to Ryū. He may not look like it but he is really a nice and caring person.

We both took a bath after. I enjoyed the refreshed feeling after the bath. My skin was a little sticky from sweating.

The two lovers outside finished cleaning and packing up.

“You guys done?” Ken asked.

“Yeah,” Ryū responded while I just nodded.

“Okay everyone. I’ll be in charge of driving since I didn’t drink sake that much,” Ki-kun announced to the group.

We all agreed that it’s best that he drive because the three of us drunk a lot earlier.

While on the way, Ryū spoke. “Let’s drop by Bench Boy’s house before we go back to our dorms.”

I was stunned because I didn’t think that he was serious about going to my house earlier.

Fuck! I’m not prepared for this. I immediately texted my dad to let them know that we were on our way.